I remember the day a Jehovah’s Witness knocked on my door and asked me if I knew God had a name. I smugly replied, “it is Jehovah.” Of course, I was an avid Bible reader at the time, and I knew where he was headed with the question. It wasn’t until later that I learned there are many names for God!
This discussion has more significant meaning to me after a revelation I had while talking with a family member concerning Muslims. I shared that Muslims believe in God, just like we do as Christians (or even those related to basic Christian teaching.) Muslims call God Allah — which means God in Arabic. Of course, as a fundamental Christian, this comment did not go over very well.
After becoming involved in the New Thought movement, I started to see its teaching encompassed some of the best parts of many historical religions. I no longer felt the separation between “my religion” and “their religion” because we are all one with each other. It does not seem necessary to trip over a name someone uses for God. To quote Shakespeare: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (from Romeo and Juliet)
Wiki explains the names for God as the following:
“Monotheists refer to their gods using names prescribed by their respective religions, with some of these names referring to certain cultural ideas about their god’s identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten, premised on being the one “true” Supreme Being and creator of the universe. In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, “He Who Is”, “I Am that I Am”, and the Tetragrammaton YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה, traditionally interpreted as “I am who I am”; “He Who Exists”) are used as names of God, while Yahweh and Jehovah are sometimes used in Christianity as vocalizations of YHWH. In the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai. In Islam, the name Allah is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a monistic concept of God. In Chinese religion, God (Shangdi) is conceived as the progenitor (first ancestor) of the universe, intrinsic to it and constantly ordaining it. Other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Bahá’í Faith, Waheguru in Sikhism, and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism.”
(For more information, see God and Names of God)
Whatever name you use for God, it is still the One! And to me, that is all that matters.